Hi all, I am a 27 year old male who recently went travelling in south east Asia. After 3 months I had to return home after being sure I was dying out there.
Having seen my GP I have had all the blood tests done for the relevant diseases as well as normal blood counts but nothing seems to be showing up in my results. I guess I’m just wondering whether this is something that isn’t region specific, the diet out there was very much carb/sugar based with a lot less protein intake than I would be used to back home.
My symptoms are the following: constant dizziness/vertigo(at bad times), poor balance, fluctuating headaches, blood shot eyes, tinnitus, sinus infection, palpitations, constant muscle and joint pains, hair loss and thinning on most of body as well as hair going grey too. It also might be worth mentioning all my bones make a cracking noise when I move but especially my feet and legs.
A list of blood tests I’ve had are below, thank you so much for reading my message. Hopefully someone can give me some hope as I’m in a lot of pain.
Full blood count
Blood film (foreign travel)
Malaria parasites (I was given a 10 day course of antiobiotics as some cells were showing up but the doctor said this was very much precautionary and it wasn’t malaria)
Throat swab
Full sexual health check
Calcium (Bone Profile)
B12 and Folate
Creatine Kinase
C-Reactive Protein
Electrolytes and creatinine
Ferritin
Gamma Glutamyl transferase
Liver function tests
Rheumatoid factor
TSH (Hypo/Hyperthyroid)
Uric Acid
Urea
Autoantibody Screen
Written by
Curtis90
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Hi Orangerose, I’m not certain but I will request the results in detail and post them. When you say further checks do you mean a retest or a different test altogether?
TSH (which you say you have been tested for already)
FT4, TT4, FT3, RT3, TGAb and TPOAb.
The NHS will not normally test all those so you may have to pay for private bloods.
Medichecks and bluehorizons offer them, you can also arrange (extra charge) for a home visit where a nurse takes your blood or you can visit a hospital where they draw blood for you, but it’s only hospitals in there list.
Make sure that you arrange the blood test first thing in the morning and stop taking any vitamins etc before hand.
Check your vitamin levels as well, again some thyroid tests include those as well depending on what thyroid blood tests you pick.
On Thursdays they offer discounted rates for thyroid tests.
Dizziness and muscle stiffness/pain could be thyroid related as well as hair loss and cracking of your joints, or an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s) which I have.
If your GP will do a full thyroid test for you, make sure you get a copy of you results including the lab ranges then post them on here and the experts will help you.
From my experience GP’s don’t know enough about thyroid related illnesses and just focus on the TSH despite you feeling awful, your GP however, maybe different.
If your blood tests show thyroid related problems, the first thing you must do is make sure your iron, vitamin D, C, B12 levels are all good as this will not help your thyroid to work.
It may not be your thyroid, but, as nothing has shown up yet, it well could be an issue.
Thank you both so much, my next appointment with my GP is in 14 days. If those tests aren’t available through the NHS I will look to have them done privately. Please keep an eye out for my reply as I will be back.
Were you tested for low/high blood sugar, Curtis90 ? Some people have lows with their blood sugar when they get dizzy and don't eat when they're suppose to on time. Does diabetes and/or hypoglecemia run in the family?
Hello Curtis, many years ago I returned from a similar trip with some of your symptoms. They did a spinal tap to rule out types of meningitis, etc. I believe that it compromised my immune system so as to bring about my autoimmune disease today. Perhaps you can ask your GP. Let us know how you come out...good luck.
Cryptosporidium (it’s like Giardia) stool test (I had it possibly a long time. Always thought I just had IBS. Got treated, now I don’t. I went to several 3rd world countries but could have caught it any where. I did not have all the symptoms. I’m sure it contibuted to my health issues, as it’s a foreign invader).
TSH, FT3, FT4 tested all together
TPOa
TGab
Epstein Bar Virus (EBV)
Cytolomegalovirus (CMV)
Complete Blood Count panel
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Compliment Proteins - can indicate autoimmune activity
I’m still waiting on my faeces results from my original appointment so they could still show something up. Thanks for this info, out of interest which countries did you visit? I was having the time of my life before this took me.. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia were all I managed to get through
You're welcome. I'm so sorry you've had to come home after your wonderful trip of a life time. I hope you find out what's the cause of your illness very soon. Is the fecal test for bacteria, fungi, and parasites? Cryptosporidium is everywhere, in every country. It's found in lakes, streams, rivers, and drinking water. It's one of the top causes of water borne disease in the UK and the US, Probably almost every other country, too. It can also be passed in un-clean produce, and on surfaces, if an infected person doesn't wash their hands after going to the toilet. I've been in lakes, streams and rivers do water recreation all of my life. The countries I've been to are Mexico, Jamaica, and Dominican Republic.
Thank you, I appreciate that. The faecal test was for culture and parasites. It actually had Cryptosporidium come back as negative (got the result this afternoon). I’m edging towards asking for fungal tests too?
You could, just to cancel out that possibly. Are I think getting the right blood results will lead you in the right direction. Your symptoms could very well be autoimmune or something else.
I know what you mean. Where to start? Compliment Proteins are part of the Compliment System found in your Immune System. I got lucky and had someone test my C3 and C4. It showed C3 deficiency. I ended up having Hashimoto's. I recently re-tested both of those, plus C50, or total complement activity. My C3 is slightly lower and still deficient. My C4 is still in range and almost deficient. My C50 was in normal range. Strange, since that's supposed to gauge total compliment activity. Good thing someone didn't start with C50.
A complete thyroid panel, including antibodies should be ruled out. I just re-read your symptoms. You could have Graves Disease, too, so would want to test those antibodies. Palpations, hair loss, eye problems (are you eye protruding at all?), and your other symptoms could be Graves.
I now have my results for all the tests I listed. Things that stood out for me even though I obviously have no idea about this stuff is that my uric acid (0.42 mmol/L) and urea (7.3 mmol/L) seem to be on the high side of normal?
I have just received my results from medichecks and my TSH levels have risen again since my last test 2-3 weeks ago. Below are my full results, any info would be appreciated. Thank you
I’m at a loss now. Confirmed I’m not celiac but I think deep down I knew that anyway. GP isn’t concerned by my latest thyroid results and I’ve no idea what could be causing my problems.
As a way of an update in regards to my symptoms. The dizziness/vertigo has improved as has the muscle and joint pain but it’s still very apparent and hard to deal with every day. Sinusitis and tinnitus remains and my hair still doesn’t seem to be growing too well.
My heart is still having palpitations randomly and I have a constant heavy pulse throughout my body 24/7.
I have to say that my symptoms definitely worsen the more I’m active and walk about etc. If I lay down everything seems milder.
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